site banner
PaperclipPerfector  5d ago (text post)   2383 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for February 22, 2026

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

1
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

So, what are you reading?

I'm still on Macpherson's Possessive Individualism and the rest of the backlog. Slow progress. Also reading Legend of the Galactic Heroes again.

Also reading Legend of the Galactic Heroes again.

I tried watching the anime, after it seeing it shared as an example of a "rational"(ish) anime.

The first episode (all that I bothered watching) disappointed me greatly. The so-called strategic genius won a fleet battle against all odds by using tactics obvious to a particularly bright seven year old. Someone tell me if it's worth persisting despite poor first impressions.

The so-called strategic genius won a fleet battle against all odds by using tactics obvious to a particularly bright seven year old

I'm curious now as to how many works involving strategic geniuses actually do involve tactics that wouldn't be obvious to a 7-year-old? I don't recall, say, the Honor Harrington books generally relying on amazing tactics, so much as well-executed tactics and knowledge.

Very few, but still non-zero. Classic examples would be Ender's Game; then we've got HPMOR and other rat-fic.

I did enjoy my listening of HPMOR, but it IMO also gets pretty silly at times. I don't really remember examples of the top of my head unfortunately since it's quite some time ago, but I do remember coming away with the impression that there isn't a lot that Harry is doing which would work nearly as well IRL as it does in the book.

Increasingly I think that the fundamental problem is, not only would very few strategic (or tactical, for that matter) genii write a book like that, if anything writing fiction like this anti-selects for competence in harsh competitive environments, since it's fundamentally escapism. And there's no way out of this inherent contradiction.

Most military action currently is one dominant side enforcing its will unilaterally on a weaker enemy, or a slow boring grind like Ukraine. If a weaker side wins, it's usually on morale and propaganda terms as opposed to military genius.

So the closest thing we've got currently IRL is probably gaming competitions, I guess.

What is this place?

This website is a place for people who want to move past shady thinking and test their ideas in a court of people who don't all share the same biases. Our goal is to optimize for light, not heat; this is a group effort, and all commentators are asked to do their part.

The weekly Culture War threads host the most controversial topics and are the most visible aspect of The Motte. However, many other topics are appropriate here. We encourage people to post anything related to science, politics, or philosophy; if in doubt, post!

Check out The Vault for an archive of old quality posts. You are encouraged to crosspost these elsewhere.


Why are you called The Motte?

A motte is a stone keep on a raised earthwork common in early medieval fortifications. More pertinently, it's an element in a rhetorical move called a "Motte-and-Bailey", originally identified by philosopher Nicholas Shackel. It describes the tendency in discourse for people to move from a controversial but high value claim to a defensible but less exciting one upon any resistance to the former. He likens this to the medieval fortification, where a desirable land (the bailey) is abandoned when in danger for the more easily defended motte. In Shackel's words, "The Motte represents the defensible but undesired propositions to which one retreats when hard pressed."

On The Motte, always attempt to remain inside your defensible territory, even if you are not being pressed.


New post guidelines

If you're posting something that isn't related to the culture war, we encourage you to post a thread for it. A submission statement is highly appreciated, but isn't necessary for text posts or links to largely-text posts such as blogs or news articles; if we're unsure of the value of your post, we might remove it until you add a submission statement. A submission statement is required for non-text sources (videos, podcasts, images).

Culture war posts go in the culture war thread; all links must either include a submission statement or significant commentary. Bare links without those will be removed.

If in doubt, please post it!


Rules


Recommended Posts And Communities

Recommended Realtime Chats